Upper Iowa dropped their home opener in Fayette on Saturday to St. Cloud State University 27-20 in a Northern Sun Conference cross-division match up.  The Peacocks turned the ball over five times in the game including two fourth quarter giveaways.  St. Cloud State took advantage of the turnovers scoring their final two touchdowns after intercepting a pair of Upper Iowa passes.  The Huskies evened their record at 1-1, while the Peacocks fall to 0-2.
 
Dimitri Morales found Trey MacTaggart from the 10-yard line for the game's first score early in the second quarter.  The touchdown capped off an 11-play, 70-yard drive and marked MacTaggart's first score of the senior's season.
 
The Huskies grabbed control for the remainder of the quarter and posted a 13-7 lead at halftime thanks to a pair of touchdown connections between Nate Meyer and Jameson Parsons.  UIU was able to block the first extra point attempt of SCSU.  In between the two Husky scores, the Peacocks drove the ball 62 yards in 9 plays, but came up empty as a 38-yard field goal attempt missed right.
 
Upper Iowa tied the game on their second possession of the third quarter when Morales found a wide open Jarred Edmonds streaking down the left sideline.  The touchdown completion and run went for 52 yards and knotted the score at 13-13 after the Peacocks' two-point try failed.
 
Tristan Beyer intercepted a St. Cloud State pass with just over four minutes to play in the quarter and set up the Upper Iowa offense at their own 42-yard line.  The Peacocks didn't hold onto the ball long as the Huskies picked off a pass on UIU's second play.  SCSU converted on the turnover with a 33-yard drive to break the tie and get out to a 20-13 lead on a Collin Radowicz 4-yard scamper over the goal line. 
 
SCSU made it a two-score lead, 27-13, with a second scoring drive off a Peacock interception.  Nate Meyer got his third touchdown pass of the game hitting John Pass for a 40-yard score.
 
Upper Iowa took the ensuing possession to the end zone on a 13-play, 75-yard drive.  The home team faced a fourth and long during the drive, but Morales found Edmonds for 15 yards and a first down.  The Peacocks pulled within one score, 27-20, as Morales connected with Edmonds again from 11 yards out for the score with six and half minutes to play.
 
The Peacocks had the ball two more times as the clock rolled to zero; but a punt and a fumble ended their chance at completing the comeback.  St. Cloud State ran the clock out on their final possession to claim the 27-20 victory.
 
Upper Iowa's defense was stingy against the run allowing only 34 yards on 43 carries to St. Cloud State, but the Huskies went to the air as Meyer picked up 303 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. Parsons pulled in 10 catches for 97 yards and 2 scores, while John Pass has 9 catches for 138 yards and 1 touchdown. Stuart Hamman and Gary Koehring led the SCSU defense with 9 and 7 tackles, respectively.
 
Edmonds had another big receiving day for UIU pulling in 6 balls for 129 yards and two touchdowns, while Jalen Amis had 5 catches for 81 yards.  Ryan Parmely had a second straight 90-yard game on the ground rushing for 91 yards on 26 carries.  Morales had three touchdown passes and 273 yards on 21 completions. Adam Lytle and Zach Gardner paced the defense with 10 and 9 tackles, respectively; Gardner also added a fumble recovery.  Tanner Thompson added 7 stops, while Beyer recorded 6 tackles with his interception and Jojo Simpson had six tackles including 2.5 for loss and a sack.
 
Upper Iowa will head back out on the road next Saturday for their third NSIC cross-division game of the season.  The Peacocks will line up against the Dragons of Minnesota State University Moorhead at 2 p.m. in Moorhead, Minn.